The Tribune

By ADRIAN GIBSON

ajbahama@hotmail.com

IT IS clear that sometimes in life, the truth is much stranger than fiction.

In The Bahamas today, we are watching the development of a perfect storm of civil discontent, an ambiguous fiscal performance, contraction in tourism and an inability to open Baha Mar. However, despite it all, Prime Minister Perry Christie continues to say things are getting better.

The demonstrations by the Post Office workers and hospital doctors this week demonstrates that the public is losing confidence in the current administration.

It is obvious that we are watching people find their voices. This turn of events suggests that what happened in the ‘Arab Spring’ revolution and the trend of public outrage manifested in other countries that, in a most recent instance led to the resignation to Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson in the wake of the leaked Panama Papers, is seemingly spreading to The Bahamas. Over the last year, we have seen a number of other meaningful protests, from the demonstration about the state of the dump to the Cabbage Beach vendors and so on.

I spoke to a prominent physician at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) who told me that Tuesday’s protest was organised by a group of young physicians who decided - for better or worse - that ordinary methods of negotiation were so ineffective that they had to take to the streets. According to them, their concerns were neither heard nor addressed.

Truthfully, I have mixed feelings about vitally important members of essential services walking off the job. However, I empathise with them and the frustrating conditions they work in and the mediocre pay scale that, according to President of the Doctors Union Charles Clarke, is “unfair and insulting” and has resulted in them working as many as 36 consecutive hours and yet being the laughing stock of bankers as many of them are unable to purchase homes.

I certainly would not want any physician tending to my family or myself after working eight hours or so to think that physicians are working 36 hours and allowed to treat Bahamians is stunning, shocking and should never happen.

This all comes at a time when the doctors at PMH and private sector physicians have joined a coalition of organisations who have made it clear that one of the issues of contention is the perception of disrespect emanating from the government.

The adage ‘what goes around comes around’ is surely holding true. Here we are in 2016 and the political organisation that benefitted from the public protests and street marches and people finding their voice in 2012 is now the governing party and experiencing much of what they themselves openly cultivated and encouraged at that time. However, in true ‘Animal Farm’ fashion, this is also the same organisation that has now so mishandled the public’s trust that they are now the object of political derision, dissatisfaction and anger. There is no amount of propaganda and rhetoric that can spin this change.

As the summer months approach and temperatures rise, it is quite likely that so too will the annoyance, intolerance and anger of various unions and organisations within The Bahamas. No doubt, much - if not all - of their ire will be directed at a government which has perfected incompetence. Were it not true that this government has bungled virtually every major initiative on which it has embarked, such populist dissent could be dismissed, but the one great accomplishment of this Christie-led administration and their singular contribution to democracy is that they will fertilise a fervour for accountability. They will cause Bahamians to raise their voices in an effort to run them out of office.

Today, Bahamians speak freely of corruption. These statements have recently been verified by a US State Department’s 2015 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in this country. In that report, the US asserted that the government’s procurement process was “opaque” given that there was no requirement for open public tenders or allowance for award decisions to be reviewed.

“The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, however, the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity,” the report says. “The procurement process was particularly susceptible to corruption, as it is opaque, contains no requirement to engage in open public tenders, and does not allow award decisions to be reviewed.

“In October, the government charged a former state energy-company board member under the Prevention of Bribery Act, the first significant case brought under the act since 1989,” the State Department wrote.

The report noted that there were “frequent” reports of government corruption during the year. What’s more, the Human Rights Report also took issue that there was no independent verification of annual public disclosures from senior public officials, and called the annual submission rate “weak” unless it was an election year.

Financial disclosures must be turned into the Public Disclosures Commission (PDC) by March each year. According to the Public Disclosures Act, a summary of the declarations shall be published in a gazette and any person who does not comply with the law is liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment of not more than two years.

So, how many Parliamentarians and senior public officials made their declarations last month?

Any politician who hasn’t yet declared is committing a criminal act? Why are they allowed to get away whilst the chap from Bain Town does the Bank Lane shuffle only to be lost at the Bahamas Department of Corrections?

Indeed, there is a lack of transparency in the government contract bidding processes and, frankly, if one is not PLP or is presumed not to be, they need not apply.

Further, the US State Department maintained its spotlight on inefficiencies in the country’s “extremely backlogged” judicial system, mistreatment of migrants and perceptions of impunity held by enforcement officials in its 2015 Human Rights Practices report.

The report maintained its decade-long criticisms over lengthy trials and pre-trial detention, harsh prison conditions, violence against women and children and discrimination based on ethnic descent.

The shameful and disgraceful utterances of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell were also highlighted. The report furthered that civil rights groups reported the government used threats of prosecution in a way that had a “chilling effect” on free speech.

In giving an example of such governmental excesses, the report referenced the comments of Mitchell in response to criticism of the government’s new immigration policy that took effect in November 2014, stating: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminded citizens that the Bahamas Nationality Act allows the minister for nationality to revoke citizenship from a person who ‘has shown himself by act or speech to be disloyal or disaffected towards The Bahamas’. In August, the ministry publicly threatened to revoke the permanent residency status of a critic of the government.”

Shameful! Who do these people think they are? I’d like to see a minister of government attempt to take away my citizenship. That will certainly be the day.

In response to the US State Department Report Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller said that it was nothing new and acknowledged the wonderful system of patronage that has developed for the supporters of whichever government is in power.

I have heard the criticisms of Mr Miller for his commentary. However, Leslie Miller spoke nothing but the truth. I certainly don’t see a reason to criticise him for what we all know to be factual.

Although the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) campaigned on a slogan of “believing in Bahamians”, the fact is that it was a lie. The PLP does not believe in Bahamians. The PLP believes in PLP Bahamians. The Free National Movement (FNM), though not as overly partisan under the leadership of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, has a similar outlook. Ingraham attempted to bring a more balanced, meritorious approach to the award of contracts; however, many FNM supporters were upset at his even handedness and fair play with known or “suspected” PLPs.

The view is that supporters of a particular party must be rewarded with the best contracts, jobs, posts and other amenities. Leslie Miller is right. And, frankly, we will see a replay of it in the upcoming political cycle.

Bahamians should not believe the PLP’s rhetoric about being a new generation of leaders or believing in Bahamians. Tell them to prove it. There are individual ministers who I know and have heard pretend to be fair and progressive but they are nothing more than partisans who have become so indoctrinated in this foolish PLP versus FNM concept that their pretence of being new age leaders and thinkers is easily punctured.

I respect Leslie Miller’s honesty about politicians seeking to take care of their campaign workers and generals first. That is nothing unique to The Bahamas. President Obama did the same (think David Axelrod, etc) but he broadened his approach by being more even-handed, bipartisan and nationalistic. I have come to know Leslie Miller over the years and, unlike many, I know many stories of him crossing the so-called political divide to assist persons who are not PLP and may not have supported him. I cannot say the same for many others within the PLP’s caucus.

Unfortunately, Bahamian politicians are parochial, politically undeveloped and overly narrow-minded.

No less a person than Prime Minister Christie has previously said that he hoped that the majority of construction contracts for the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) went to PLP supporters. Wow!

Indeed, such a system does undermine the concept of a meritocracy and basic fairness and yes, more often than not, Bahamian taxpayers are short-changed and hardly gain value for money as contracts are awarded to people who are simply clueless.

How is it that the now infamous Toggie and Bobo were awarded contracts of $6,000 and $5,200 per month from the Ministry of Works? That’s an annual total of $72,000 and $62,400. These men were/are each making more money than most senior public servants.

In one instance, one of the men was making more than the Commissioner of Police ($66,000 per annum) and both of the men were making more than the ministerial salaries of Ministers of State ($60,000). Someone must answer for this expenditure of public funds!

Yet another blind award of contracts to political cronies! As I told someone this weekend, it made one wonder in jest why one should have spent all those years in college when all you had to do to perpetually suck at the tit of the government was kiss-up politically, threaten political enemies and be a political fool! However, most Bahamians have dignity and self-respect so that is certainly not an option.

It is high-time that anti-corruption legislation is passed. We are long overdue Freedom of Information Act and Campaign Finance legislation. There is a general need for fiscal reform in The Bahamas.

In the wake of the 1984 Commission of Inquiry, some may have been shocked whilst others simply said that that is the way we do it in The Bahamas. At least in 1984, the level of corruption disturbed some folks to the point that some of the people engaged in such practises refrained. Today, it appears that the goal is now to perfect the art of patronage, graft, cronyism, unbridled greed and outright corrupt practices.

It is shocking that there has been no condemnation from the Church despite the outrageous actions and/or commentary that indict certain politicians. Alas, the Church is selective in the issues it pursues. That is so sad and insincere.

We have heard much about the loans to politically-exposed persons; we have yet to hear anything about the BAMSI dormitory issue; we standby as Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis has not yet lived up to his promise to release the contracts given to other contractors at BAMSI; we are seeing the spectacle of the Fred Ramsey BEC bribe case, which is no doubt going to change the narrative (however, if something was wrong then, it is also wrong today). We take no solace in the political excuse that they (one political group) did it and so we can. Tit-for-tat won’t work. We need a new approach to local politics.

We want to rid our politics of the scourge of corruption.

Comments and responses to ajbahama@hotmail.com